Evaluation of Risk Factors for Metabolic Syndrome in Postmenopausal Women Breast Cancer

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in postmenopausal women breast cancer survivors compared to postmenopausal women without breast cancer. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 104 women breast cancer survivors were compared with 208 postmenopausal women (control), seeking healthcare at a University Hospital. Eligibility criteria included women with amenorrhea> 12 months and age 45 years, treated for breast cancer and no recorrences for at least five years. The control group consisted of women with amenorrhea> 12 months and age 45 years without breast cancer matched by age, in proportion 1:2. Dates on clinical antecedents and anthropometric indicators were collected. The biochemical parameters, including total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, glucose and C-reactive protein (CRP), were measured. MetS was diagnosed as the presence of at least three components among: waist circumference (WC) 88cm, blood pressure 130/85mmHg, triglycerides 150mg/dl, HDL 88 cm) affecting 62.5% of women breast cancer survivors and 67.8% of control group. Women breast cancer survivors had a higher risk for metabolic syndrome (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.04-2.68), dysglycemia (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.09- 3.03) and hypertension (OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.02-2.89) compared to women without breast cancer. DISCUSSION: This study demonstrated an association between the metabolic syndrome, obesity and breast cancer patients treated in postmenopausal women. The risk of postmenopausal patients treated for breast cancer to develop metabolic syndrome, hypertension and dysglycemia was higher when compared to age-matched women without the disease. MetS was present in 50% of patients treated for breast cancer and 37.5% in the control group. Among the criteria used for diagnosis of MS, the most common among patients treated for breast cancer were central obesity (62.5%) and hipetrigliceridemia (45.2%). CONCLUSION: Postmenopausal women breast cancer survivors had higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome compared to women without breast cancer.